Silver braze alloy

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a silver braze alloy having improved wetting properties. The silver braze alloy consists essentially of from about 52.25 wt % to about 57.0 wt % silver, from about 38.95 to about 43.0 wt % copper, from about 0.5 wt % to about 5.5 wt %, preferably from about 1.0 wt % to about 5.5 wt %, manganese, and up to about 2.5 wt %, preferably from about 1.5 wt % to about 2.5 wt %, nickel. The alloy further may contain 0.15 wt % total of other trace elements.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/752,000, filed Dec. 29, 2000, entitled SILVERBRAZE ALLOY, by Wangen Lin et al.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a silver brazing alloy and to a methodof brazing metal parts.

It is known to torch braze, induction braze, furnace braze, or vacuumbraze metal parts, such as steel parts, using non-ferrous brazingalloys, also known as filler metals. Typical filler metals includesilver, gold, nickel, and copper brazing alloys. Silver brazing alloysare more costly and, in general, melt at lower temperatures than copperalloys.

One silver brazing alloy which has been used in the prior art is analloy containing 56 wt % silver, 42 wt % copper, and 2.0 wt % nickel.Despite the wide spread use of this silver brazing alloy, there remainsa need for an alloy which has improved brazing characteristics,particularly wettability.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide asilver braze alloy having improved wettability.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improvedbrazing method which does not require nickel plating of a stainlesssteel substrate prior to brazing.

The foregoing objects are attained by the silver braze alloy and thebrazing method of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention, a silver braze alloy consistsessentially of from about 52.25 wt % to about 57.0 wt % silver, fromabout 38.95 wt % to about 43.0 wt % copper, from about 0.5 wt % to about5.5 wt %, preferably from about 1.0 wt % to about 5.5 wt %, manganeseand up to about 2.5 wt %, preferably from about 1.5 wt % to about 2.5 wt% nickel.

A method for brazing a part in accordance with the present inventionbroadly comprises providing an article formed from a ferrous material,applying a brazing material to the article formed from an alloyconsisting essentially of from about 52.25 wt % to about 57.0 wt %silver, from about 38.95 wt % to about 43.0 wt % copper, from about 0.5wt % to about 5.5 wt % manganese, and up to about 2.5 wt % nickel, andheating the article and the brazing material at a temperature in therange of from about 900° C. to about 1050° C. for a time periodsufficient to melt the brazing material.

Other details of the silver braze alloy and the method of the presentinvention, as well as other objects and advantages attendant thereto,are set forth in the following detailed description and the accompanyingdrawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The FIGURE is a graph showing the wetting angle which can be obtained bythe alloys in accordance with the present invention as a function of themanganese content of the alloy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

A silver braze alloy in accordance with the present invention consistsessentially of from about 52.25 wt % to about 57.0 wt % silver, fromabout 38.95 wt % to about 43.0 wt % copper, from about 0.5 wt % to about5.5 wt %, preferably from about 1.0 wt % to about 5.5 wt %, manganeseand up to about 2.5 wt %, preferably from about 1.5 wt % to about 2.5 wt%, nickel. The alloys of the present invention may also contain up toabout 0.15 wt % total of other trace elements such as iron, zinc,silicon, phosphorous, sulfur, platinum, palladium, lead, gold, aluminum,magnesium, tin, germanium, carbon, and oxygen. A manganese additionwithin the foregoing ranges has been found to improve the brazingcharacteristics of the alloy of the present invention, particularly thewetting characteristics, as compared to a silver-copper-nickel brazingalloy consisting of 56 wt % silver, 42 wt % copper, and 2.0 wt % nickel.

Particularly useful brazing alloys in accordance with the presentinvention include: (1) a silver brazing alloy consisting essentially of56 wt % silver, 42 wt % copper and 2.0 wt % manganese; and (2) a silverbrazing alloy consisting essentially of 0.5 to 5.5 wt % manganese withthe remaining composition proportional to the 56 wt % silver, 42 wt %copper, and 2.0 wt % nickel alloy.

The silver braze alloys of the present invention may be formed in anysuitable manner known in the art and may be cast using any suitabletechnique known in the art into any desired form. For example, thesilver braze alloys of the present invention can be in strip form, wireform, rod form, sheet form, foil form, pig form, powder form, shot form,chip form, paste form.

The silver braze alloys of the present invention may be brazed at atemperature in the range of from about 900° C. to about 1050° C.,preferably from about 950° C. to about 1050° C., for a time sufficientto melt the brazing alloy onto a substrate formed from a ferrousmaterial such as steel and stainless steel. Using the alloys of thepresent invention, brazing can be done using a furnace, locally using atorch, using an induction heater, dipped in a braze or flux bath,resistance heated, laser heated, or infrared heated. Depending on thebrazing technique being employed, brazing may be carried out in an inertgas atmosphere, such as an argon atmosphere, or some other type ofprotective atmosphere. The silver braze alloy of the present inventionmelts at the aforementioned brazing temperatures and readily wets theferrous substrate material to be joined without melting the ferroussubstrate material.

The silver braze alloys of the present invention may be used to brazesteel surfaces, particularly stainless steel surfaces. One of theadvantages of the silver braze alloys of the present invention is thatin an inert gas atmosphere, such as an argon atmosphere, no flux needsto be used and no nickel plating of the ferrous substrate material isrequired.

It has been found that the silver brazing alloys of the presentinvention have better wettability and flow characteristics than otherbrazing alloys such as an alloy consisting of 56 wt % silver, 42 wt %copper, and 2.0 wt % nickel.

To demonstrate the improved properties of the alloys of the presentinvention, a controlled amount of braze alloy consistent with the alloysof the present invention were applied to a series of stainless steelpieces. The braze volume was kept small to prevent excessive spreadingof the alloy during the test. Each sample was then heated to a brazetemperature of 900° C. or 1000° C. in a brazing furnace under aprotective argon atmosphere. The braze alloy under the aforementionedbrazing conditions melted and formed a wetting angle with the stainlesssteel piece. The angle at the line of contact between the liquid orsolidified braze alloy and the stainless steel piece was then measured.This was done either in situ or after the piece had been cooled to roomtemperature. The resulting angle is an indicator of wettability. Thelower the contact or wetting angle, the better the wetting behaviorbetween the silver braze alloy and the base material. As can be seenfrom FIG. 1, the braze alloys of the present invention heated to atemperature of 1000° C. exhibited wetting angles in the range of fromapproximately 1 degree to about 19 degrees and braze alloys of thepresent invention heated to a temperature of 900° C. exhibited wettingangles which ranged from approximately 1 degree to about 37 degrees.

The typical wetting angle for a 56Ag-42Cu-2Ni alloy can range anywherefrom 10 to 90 degrees depending on the surface conditions of thestainless steel and the brazing temperature. As can be seen from theforegoing discussion, the silver brazing alloys of the present inventionsignificantly reduce this wide range of wetting variability, producinggenerally low wetting angles and improved braze flow. The foregoing testshows that the higher the manganese content of the alloy, the lower thewetting angle. FIG. 1 clearly shows that alloys in accordance with thepresent invention having a manganese content greater than about 1.0 wt %to about 5.0 wt % provide excellent wettability properties.

It is apparent that there has been provided in accordance with thepresent invention a silver braze alloy which fully meets the foregoingobjects, means and advantages. While the present invention has beendescribed in the context of specific embodiments thereof, otheralternatives, modifications, and variations will become apparent tothose skilled in the art having read the foregoing description.Therefore, it is intended to embrace those alternatives, modifications,and variations as fall within the broad scope of the appended claims.

1-6. (canceled)
 7. A method for brazing an article comprising of: (1)providing an article formed from a ferrous material; (2) applying abrazing material to said article formed from an alloy consistingessentially of from about 52.25 wt % to about 57.0 wt % silver, fromabout 38.95 wt % to about 43.0 wt % copper, from about 0.5 wt % to about5.5 wt % manganese, and up to about 2.5 wt % nickel; and (3) heatingsaid article and said brazing material at a temperature in the range offrom about 900° C. to about 1050° C. for a time sufficient to melt saidbrazing material.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein said heating stepcomprises heating said article and said brazing material at atemperature in the range of from about 950° C. to about 1050° C.
 9. Themethod of claim 7, wherein said brazing material applying step comprisesapplying a brazing material consisting essentially of 56 wt % silver, 42wt % copper, and 2.0 wt % manganese.
 10. The method of claim 7, whereinsaid brazing material applying step comprises applying a brazingmaterial consisting essentially of 0.5 to 5.5 wt % manganese with theremaining composition proportional to the 56 wt % silver, 42 wt %copper, and 2.0 wt % nickel alloy.
 11. The method according to claim 7,wherein said brazing material being applied has a nickel content in therange of from about 1.5 wt % to about 2.5 wt %.
 12. The method accordingto claim 7, wherein said brazing material being applied has a manganesecontent in the range of from about 1.0 wt % to about 5.5 wt %.
 13. Themethod according to claim 7, wherein said article providing stepcomprises providing an article formed from steel.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein said article providing step comprisesproviding an article formed from stainless steel.